The new 91: A holiday gift? Or not.

Michael Mello. North County Reporter. // MORE INFORMATION: Associate Mug Shot taken September 10, 2010 : by KATE LUCAS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Rearview mirror: A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the recent opening of a six-mile-long lane on the eastbound 91. Transit officials said the wider freeway could save commuters as much as 15 minutes a day. I asked drivers who knew the road what they thought; below are some of the responses I received.

Many of them said the improvements made little or no difference, or they would have but are negated by the artery's other characteristics, like constant traffic downstream in Corona.

"I live in Norco and work in Yorba Linda. I drive the 91 every day and have noticed no difference in the drive time through the Santa Ana Canyon," wrote Donienne Deese. "I would imagine that people who drive the 241 interchange may have a faster time getting on the 91 with the new lane to allow their merge to be faster, but I would bet it doesn't save them 15 minutes."

Ed Chmiel of North Tustin thinks other improvements are needed.

"To me, one of the reasons for the traffic backup (with or without the new lane!) is that the 241 toll road does not connect to the 91 Express Lanes," Chmiel said. "I can't tell you have many times the 241 backs up at the 91 east interchange. For us, the only option is to get stuck in the muck, or go all the way over to the 55 and around in car-pool lanes, but that takes almost as long."

Randy Gates, who lives in Rialto and commutes to Tustin, agrees more improvements need to be made.

"Since the lane has opened I have actually noticed traffic getting worse through that infamous stretch of freeway. I can only speculate that this is a result of the lane ending abruptly just after the 71 on-ramp and forcing drivers to merge," Gates said. "I believe that had the lane continued another 500 feet and turned into an "Exit Only" lane ending on Serfas Club Drive, traffic would flow better through that area."

Rearview mirror, Part II: I recently wrote about how some people have waited weeks for their new driver's licenses and are tied up in a $63-million DMV computer upgrade. I told readers not to fret, because law enforcement considers their licenses renewed when the DMV gets the paperwork.

Terry Lee of Anaheim pointed out some other snags that may not be so easily resolved.

"Did you think about being in another state and trying to go through the TSA at the airport with the expired license?" Lee wrote.

"Also, at my company we have had to rescind job offers due to the candidate not having received their new license. They don't have any other government-issued document and the (federal government) will not allow us to accept receipts for license renewals or temporary paper IDs."

Perplexed about something on North Orange County's roadways, waterways or railways? Send an e-mail to melloBTW@gmail.com.

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